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Generating test programs from syntax

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Summary

The many faces of programming and systems development demand an immense amount of mechanical routine work. The present paper tries to explain some areas where automation of many tasks may be of great help. One special area, where progress seems to lag behind unduly, can be found in debugging, testing, and diagnosing systems. Here we attempted the generation of programs automatically from a definition of a problem and the characteristics of programs for its solution by a software system, which has been specially designed for this purpose. It has been indicated how the ideas underlying this project may be applied successfully to other areas.

Zusammenfassung

Bei der Programmierung und Systementwicklung wird zu einem erheblichen Umfang mechanische Routinearbeit erfordert. Der vorliegende Beitrag grenzt verschiedene Gebiete ab, wo mehrere Aufgabenlösungen automatisiert werden können. Ein Spezialgebiet, in welchem die Techniken auf niedrigem Stand zurückgeblieben scheinen, findet sich im Analysieren und Ausprüfen von Systemprogrammen. Hier haben wir versucht, Programme durch ein System automatisch zu erzeugen, ausgehend von einer Definition des Problems und den Charakteristiken seiner Lösung. Dieses System war zu diesem Zweck entwickelt worden. Ferner wird angedeutet, wie die Ideen, auf denen dieser Beitrag beruht, auf andere Gebiete erfolgreich angewendet werden können.

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Author notes

  1. W. H. Burkhardt

    Present address: Electronic Data Processing Division, Radio Corporation of America, Cherry Hill, Camden, New Jersey, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Control Company, Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts, USA

    W. H. Burkhardt

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  1. W. H. Burkhardt
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Burkhardt, W.H. Generating test programs from syntax. Computing 2, 53–73 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02235512

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02235512

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